What A Difference
by Straight 'til Morning
Summary: What if Claire and Owen's first date had gone correctly? Claire drinks the shot of tequila, and they do become a couple. Read and find out about what would happen if the first date had gone right, and the dates after that.
1. Chapter 1

**This is gonna start off as a one-shot, but if you guys like it a lot, I'll continue by adding more dates, scenes in the movie were they are already dating, and even scenes after the movie.**

Claire looked up into the mirror. She couldn't tell if she looked okay or not. More makeup, less, or should she just wipe it all off. It was approximately six thirty at night, and she would be meeting her date at seven. Today at work, Owen Grady, a man who worked with the raptors, had asked her on a date. Claire couldn't deny that he was attractive, and he seemed like a nice guy, so she had agreed to give it a shot.

She was meeting him at a restaurant inside of Jurassic World. It was the only place around, and she was not comfortable meeting him at his house. Claire had decided to wear a black dress, which was a little more on the sophisticated side, but she was a sophisticated girl, and she might as well make that clear.

Thirty minutes went by quite quick, and at seven o' one, there was a knock on her door. Claire walked over and opened it with a smile, looking down at the watch on her wrist. "Your late." She stated.

Owen frowned. "I am?" Though he frowned, amusement played in his eyes."I'm sure I told you 7:01. Is your hearing a bit off Claire?" He questioned.

Though she tried not to, Claire couldn't keep the smile off her face. Owen was dressed more laid back, a plain T-shirt and a pair of jeans. However, he managed to make it look good, and appropriate for a date. Maybe it was, Claire was one who always dressed super nice, especially for dates.

As Claire stood in front of Owen, he looked her up and down. "You look nice, Claire." He complimented.

Red rushed to her cheeks, complimenting her pale face, her lipsicked lips turning up into a pretty, and shy, smile. "Thank you," She replied. "You do too."

She watched as Owen grinned at her, and then motioned his arms forward for Claire to walk to the car, holding the door for her and then closing it as soon as she made it out. Claire was a bit aghast at how much of a gentleman he was being, and it was certainly a good thing in her eyes. It was what she had been hoping for, maybe it would lead to a second date. Just maybe.

Owen continued to leave a great impression of a gentleman as he opened the door for Claire to get in. The park was open till exactly ten o' clock a night, so they had a few hours for Claire to decide whether or no Owen really was the person he was acting as if she was right now. Claire would learn exactly who Owen was.

As Owen jumped into the car, he said words that surprised Claire, and caught her off guard. "You think so? I'll have you know I went and washed my shirt so it wouldn't smell like sweat."

She looked up, confused. "Excuse me?"

Owen laughed lightly, and Claire was surprised at the little leap her heart did when she heard that sound. She felt the heat rush back into her cheeks again, before it even showed up on her skin. Owen seemed to notice this, and he acknowledged it with a smile.

"I meant that you thought I looked good?" He explained to her.

"Oh." Claire gushed with a slight nod, more for herself than him. She looked down when she answered him, confirming that she did think that he looked good. She felt his disappointment and heard it clearly in his voice when he said:

"How am I suppose to believe you if you can't even say it and look me in the face?"

Claire didn't like to be caught off guard, or to be out of control. She liked to have things organized, and sh liked things to be perfect. She liked to be the boss, and she didn't like to show weakness. Though to some people, it was nothing, it was hard for her to be put on the spot and have to say this aloud.

However, Claire looked directly into Owen's eyes and stated stubbornly: "Owen, you look nice."

Owen smiled in response, glad with the answer. It felt good to hear Claire say it to him, he wanted to know that she would at least be able to talk too him. Claire was a distant, work-all-the-time kind of person. He wanted to get to know Claire, not Ms. Dearing. That was his goal for tonight. Get to know Claire, because he knew she was different than she was at work, and he was determined to bring that one out tonight. Though he had seen a little bit of that Claire, she had decides to come to the date as Ms. Dearing, and that was bound to change.

Owen, now satisfied, started the car and started to drive to Jurassic World. He was sure he could drive there with his eyes closed if he needed to, he didn't even bother to try to turn on the car lights to see better. He noticed at this, that Claire became tense. At a straight road, he turned and glanced at her. He almost reached out a hand to touch her and calm her, but Owen was sure that would only make her more tense.

"Hey, its okay. Calm down." He said in attempt to reassure her everything was okay, and to prove the point, he turned on the lights. Though he watched the road, he noticed Claire's figure become back to its more relaxed form.

He grinned in the dark, and continued to drive forward. The rest of the ride there, which was only a total of maybe five minutes or so, was mostly silent. Owen figured they could talk when they got to the restaurant and Claire seemed to agree, since she didn't attempt to make conversation either. Owen wondered what she was thinking. Was it about him? Was he doing good? What did Claire think? What did Ms. Dearing think? None of these answers came as fact to Owen. All of them were just guesses.

When they finally arrived, Owen opened the door and tried to help Claire out, though she refused to take his hand, stating she could get out fine on her own. Owen didn't bother to try to argue with her. Luckily, Claire awaited for him and walked up to the restaurant by his side. They were sat down immediately, since the people working there recognized Claire. Everyone who worked at Jurassic World knew who Claire Dearing was, and they knew that there could be possible consequences for getting on her bad side. Most the time she didn't like it when people didn't agree with her, especially when she was right. She had things to do, and didn't have the time to explain things to explain her options like that to people that weren't worth her time.

The place they had chosen to eat was nice, more set to attract the adult crowd of the park. The colors were blues and light woods to match it; since Jurassic World had a blue colored theme. The food was decent, but increasingly overpriced. They had drinks, and the bartenders were actually pretty good at their job, and of course, they were provided with only the best ingredients to make these drinks. A waiter walked over, offering each of them a smile before taking out a menu and handing one to each of them. He introduced his name as Harrison and then walked away, telling them he'd give them a few minutes to decide.

Claire looked over the menu. She hasn't really eaten here before, except for maybe once, and she could barley remember anything about the place at all. Claire found the section she was looking for, salads. They weren't her favorite thing to eat, but she didn't want to eat a steak on her first date. She had also recently decided that she should try a diet, and had been on it for a successful couple of days, and she didn't want to break her good start.

Owen looked up at Claire, setting down his menu. "I'm going to get a shot of tequila. You should get one too, they're actually pretty good here."

Claire didn't even look up to answer. "I can't." She explained. "I'm on a diet."

"Aw, come on Claire. Put away Ms. Dearing and be Claire. Just one." He pleaded. Just then, Harrison the waiter came back.

"Have you decided what you'll have to drink?" He asked. Harrison was an older man, maybe in his late forties, with greying black hair that looked similar to pepper with the black and white in it. He was pale, and had wrinkles here and there. He'd looked like he had recently shaved, and was small and puny, with slim, noodlely arms.

"Two shots of tequila please." Owen answered with a smile. Before Claire had time to protest, Harrison the waiter had walked away. She turned and glared at Owen, but he only smiled.

Claire wanted to laugh that she had ever thought Owen a gentleman. A gentleman would certainly listen to a ladies requested not to drink. He had gone ahead and ordered the drink for her! How dare he! Claire opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off.

Owen spoke with completely seriousness. "Claire, your not fat, you can quit the diet for one day. Have some fun."

All of the anger Claire had been feeling at the moment vanished. Instead, she was lost on what to say. One minute he had been acting like a complete jerk, the next he was making her feel better about herself. Claire tried to decided between which Owen was.

Harrison came back and set down the tequila shots before looking between the two. "Can I get you something to eat?" He asked. Owen looked up and and answered for a shocked Claire.

"Thank you Harrison, but I think that will be all for now." The old man nodded and walked away, ready to print out a check when they were done. There were plenty of other people inside the restaurant, this was somewhat of a popular place now and then. It tended to go up in sales, and then back down. It was never constant.

Claire stared down at the the little glass in front of her. The edge was lined with salt, and there was a tiny lime stuck on the side of it. Claire watched as Owen picked up his glass and drank, then stared at Claire, awaiting her to do the same. Claire looked glanced down at the glass, picking it up awkwardly, then she brought it to her mouth and swallowed it all. When she was done, she set the glass back down on the table and looked back up at Owen.

His handsome face was pulled into a grin that was being reserved for her at the moment. Claire couldn't help but smile back, and she didn't notice as Owen stared at her a moment before speaking, because she was busy staring at him as well.

"See, was that really that bad?" He asked with a devilish smile, a smile that seemed to sparkle through his eyes, and warm Claire's heart.

Claire sighed. "Fine." She grunted, trying to act sad about being wrong. "It wasn't that bad."

"Wow. Claire Dearing has been wrong, and has been bested by Owen Grady." Before Claire could intervene, Harrsion was arriving with their check, and Owen was pulling out his wallet and paying for everything. After that, Owen grabbed Claire's hand and pulled her up, and they were leaving the restaurant.

Everything at the moment starting to be going quickly for Claire, they were entering car and driving back to her house, and then Owen would leave and she'd be alone once again. When she glance at the clock on her watch, she noticed with surprise that it was eight forty eight, it'd only been an hour. Claire frowned, it had felt like she had spent so much more time with Owen. She wouldn't mind spending more time with him...

Then she stopped thinking completely. She had just admitted that she wanted a second date with him.

How would she bring this up to him? And was Owen even thinking the same thing. To Claire, the date ha been good, and she wanted to go on another. She wanted to spend more time with Owen. She didn't like losing, and she has definitely not liked it when Owen had ordered the shots and made her drink. But he hadn't made her drink it, Claire had done that all on her own. And she was glad she did, and she liked him for standing up and doing that for her. He just wanted her to have some fun, and she had.

Owen could tell that Claire was thinking. It was bothering him that he didn't know what. Did he wanted to hang out with her again? Yes. He had managed to bring out Claire, and have her put away Ms. Dearing when she ha taken the tequila shot and told him it wasn't that bad. He may have been annoyed and frustrated with Ms. Dearing, but he liked Claire a lot. He knew in time he could make it so she acted only as Claire, it was her true self.

When Owen arrived at Claire's house, he assisted her out and lead her to the front door. Claire turned around and opened her mouth to say something, but she was still unsure of how to say it. Owen grinned at her loss of words, and decided to speak what he hoped she was thinking.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow night at the same time. We'll go somewhere different though."

He turned out to be right when he notice Claire breath out in relief. She probably tried to hide it, but Owen saw it completely. Claire nodded with a small smile, and Owen looked at her face. Maybe it was to soon, and maybe he was taking a risk. Owen moved his face closer to Claire's and waited for her to make the next move.

Claire looked at Owen with wide eyes, but then her eyes were close, and she was bringing her lips to his. Owen kissed her back, but the kiss ended soon, considering it had only been their first date and they still didn't know each other well. Claire's face continued to hover close to his, and their noses touched. Finally Owen pulled back, and Claire's breath caught in her throat at how nice he looked. Cleaned up and wearing a smile. Owen was backing off the porch and making his way to his car. Claire smiled back at him. She was sad that the date was ending, but she looked forward to tomorrow's.

"Night Ms. Dearing." He called.

Claire wanted to run up to him, but she stayed where she was. "Claire." She corrected. "And goodnight, Mr. Grady."

"Owen." He corrected as well with a smile. "Goodnight Claire." He then hoped in the car and drove away, leaving Claire alone on her doorstep.

"Goodnight Owen." She whispered, even though he had left. She went into the house happy, and she couldn't wait till tomorrow night.

He was seeing her tomorrow. He was happy he was seeing her tomorrow, his brain was being racked on where to take her. He wanted to take her somewhere special. Where could he take her? Maybe he could show her the raptors, show her what he loved. He knew Claire would like to see them, and now his mind was decided. As he came home, he went inside and crashed on the couch, falling asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

**AHHH! 62 favorites on one chapter! I can't believe it! Thank you for all the favorites, reviews, and follows! Please keep doing so. ;) The rest of the chapters most likely won't be as long as the first, because the first chapter was intended to be a one-shot. I'll see what I can do though.  
**

For the first few hours of work, Owen had been able to stand it. He honestly knew the question would be coming, but didn't expect his friend to be prying so much. As soon as he had walked in, Barry had shot him a sideways grin, waiting for a full blown explanation. At first, he'd acted as if he didn't notice Barry's grin, but soon the man had finally asked him.

"C'mon, don't keep me waiting. How was it?" Barry asked.

Owen turned and faced his fellow co-worker. "It was good, I got her to loosen up a little." He watched as the raptors ran, chasing.

Barry's eyes widened, not believing what he was hearing at all. The man had never seen Claire Dearing let loose a bit, if at all, it seemed like every day she got more and more strict. She was always making sure everything was perfect, and firing the people's who fault's it was when it wasn't done right. However, she might run the park, but she didn't work with the animals, she didn't understand how hard their jobs were. He'd like to see her even try to train the raptors.

"Why are you lying to me, I thought I was your best friend." Barry stated; still refusing to believe what Owen stated.

Owen shrugged. "We're going out again tonight."

Barry laughed. "Your serious, you really like this girl don't you?"

"She's different. And the way she acts here, that's not really her." He answered, remember the way she'd taken the shot, even though she'd been on a diet and hadn't wanted to.

 **000**

Lowery placed a dinosaur figurine on his desk, leaning down and facing it to perfection. The last dinosaur to make his desk the perfect little habitat. Last night he'd gone out to eat, not finding anything in his fridge to make. He'd be surprised when he'd seen Claire and Owen walk in, especially when he noticed the two were together, on a date it seemed. Lowery had watched and been surprised by what he saw. Claire had acted so different that night, and it seemed as if, dare he say, that she had had fun.

He tried to ask her slyly, but in the end, failed at doing so. "I was at this place last night, eating, when I saw you and Owen." He said conversationally.

Claire's eye widened for a second, but she didn't want to make it seem like anything. Her and Owen were official yet. They'd gone on one date, and they were going to try another, it didn't mean they were dating. She nodded, looking up and watching the screen. She ignored the look she got from the other girl working in the room, Vivian when Lowery spoke.

"Yes, Mr. Grady accompanied me to dinner last night." She tried to shrug it off as if it was nothing, not wanting to really talk about the subject. She was here to work, not to socialize.

Vivian and Lowery exchanged a single glance before going back to work, not daring to go up against Claire.

 **000**

"Owen, where are we going?" Claire asked. She had no idea what Owen had in plan for the second date, and now that they were driving, she had even less of an idea. She'd worn heels and a nice dress, and Owen had told her she'd probably be more comfortable in tennis shoes and a pair of pants with a t-shirt. Within fifteen minutes after that, she'd arrived dressed as told.

Owen simply smiled, enjoying the moment. "Calm down, enjoy the view." He told her.

Claire looked out the window. "What view, it's completely dark."

However, the man didn't answer her, but continued to drive. The nerves were going to kill her. Where were they going? And why did Owen refuse to tell her. She looked out the window, her eyes meeting the blackness of the night, and waiting till they finally pulled up in...in front of the raptor paddock. He stepped out, making his way around the car and opening the door for her, leaving them face to face.

He smiled, excited, and moved out of the way to allow her to get out of the car. "Owen," Claire started, speaking her concern about where they were. "Why are we at the raptor paddock?" She couldn't keep her worries about where they were inside herself, and she supposed this was the best time to speak them, and she needed answers.

Owen just grabbed her hand, walking forward. "I'm going to show you what I do for a living, Claire. You may run the park, but you don't seem to know a single animal in it."

"Of course I do. In this paddock is Velociratpor 455, 478, 461, and 453." She defended herself.

He laughed, leading her to the top of the paddock, where he would have them race. She, again, could not figure out what Owen had planned for the date. Obviously it had been nothing like the last date, and would, dare Claire hope, would be better. Last night's date had been good, so good she'd almost consider it great. But there were moment's she would like to do differently. However, she was happen with the end result of it all.

And then, right below her, were raptors. Claire had never seen a dinosaur so close that wasn't behind glass. Her eyes widened as she watched them come out, talking to each other in a secret language she couldn't quite understand. Each one was different in their own way, yet they all looked the same, especially in the dark.

He didn't intend for it to stay dark, though, and turned on lights that would light up a stadium. Now she could see them more closely, see single details that they used to tell each creature apart from the other. Owen came, walking up beside her.

"Claire, meet Blue, Delta, Charlie, and Echo."

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